Challenges of Smallholder Farming in Ethiopia and Opportunities by Adopting Climate-Smart Agriculture

Abstract

Agriculture is the backbone of the Ethiopian economy, and the agricultural sector is dominated by smallholder farming systems. The farming systems are facing constraints such as small land size, lack of resources, and increasing degradation of soil quality that hamper sustainable crop production and food security. The effects of climate change (e.g., frequent occurrence of extreme weather events) exacerbate these problems. Applying appropriate technologies like climate-smart agriculture (CSA) can help to resolve the constraints of smallholder farming systems. This paper provides a comprehensive overview regarding opportunities and challenges of traditional and newly developed CSA practices in Ethiopia, such as integrated soil fertility management, water harvesting, and agroforestry. These practices are commonly related to drought resilience, stability of crop yields, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas mitigation, and higher household income. However, the adoption of the practices by smallholder farmers is often limited, mainly due to shortage of cropland, land tenure issues, lack of adequate knowledge about CSA, slow return on investments, and insufficient policy and implementation schemes. It is suggested that additional measures be developed and made available to help CSA practices become more prevalent in smallholder farming systems. The measures should include the utilization of degraded and marginal lands, improvement of the soil organic matter management, provision of capacity-building opportunities and financial support, as well as the development of specific policies for smallholder farming.

Will the Adoption of Early Fertigation Techniques Hinder Famers’ Technology Renewal? Evidence from Fresh Growers in Shaanxi, China

“…Similarly, Moges and Taye [15] explained this correlation as a positive correlation between farmers' education and cognition, and a high cognitive level can improve the adoption level. Most studies have found that young and highly educated farmers have a higher adoption level, which is similar to our conclusion [1,17,24]. However, some studies have found that demographic variables do not continue to play a role, but depend on the complexity of technology [55].…”

“…Therefore, we divide the factors into two categories according to different research priorities and some review researches [23]. Some scholars believe that the cognitive differences between farmers and experts on technology will affect the adoption [24][25][26][27]. They believe that the lack of knowledge and skills is a major obstacle to the adoption of this technology, and information dissemination and training are key [26].…”

Combination of Compost and Mineral Fertilizers as an Option for Enhancing Maize (Zea mays L.) Yields and Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Nitisol in Ethiopia

“…Compost was shown to be a suitable amendment considering GHGs and maize yield in our study. However, like mineral fertilizers, compost is also limited in Ethiopia, especially in the area where organic resources are used for another purpose such as fuel, food for animals, or construction material [65,94,95]. As different ratios of compost and mineral fertilizers in the mixtures were found to be suitable to reduce N 2 O and CO 2 emissions and increase maize yield (see Section 4.1), upon the availability of resources, the proportions of these types of fertilizers can be set flexibly in a certain range around 50:50.…”

Usage and Impacts of Technologies and Management Practices in Ethiopian Smallholder Maize Production

“…Fertilizer may be preferred for relatively distant fields as these fields may less likely receive organic fertilizer such as manure [4,43]. Indeed, manure (and intercropping) were less practiced on plots located further away from the homestead, as is also documented in other studies [44]. Pests and diseases are also more difficult to control manually when they occur further away from the homestead and pesticides may help in such conditions.…”